Chapter Thirty-Five Eight Months

Disclaimer: Any characters other than Athena and any situations related to the book or any other Harry Potter related items belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. I do not gain any money from this. I only write to relieve stress and to get the ideas out of my head.

A/N. Feel free to leave a review or comments on anything I messed up on or if you have a suggestion for the story. Don't feel obligated to give me a review though. I appreciate everyone who reads my stories. Reviews are bonuses in my eyes so like I said don't feel obligated to leave one. Thank you also to those who have added this story to favorites or following I appreciate it. ".."=talking '..'=thinking *..*=text message/notes.

May 20, 2001

Amelia opened her eyes as her phone began to ring she carefully slipped out of Harry's arms sliding her feet to the floor grabbing her phone and walking out of the room. She answered once she was outside of their bedroom "hello?" She mumbled trying to clear the fog that had currently taken up in her head.

Sam answered on the other line "good evening Athena well I guess it would be good morning. I am sorry to wake you up at 3 am but I did have a request for you and didn't know when you would be available. I'm sure Harry has told you about the committee we are forming that is essentially like the magical version of the United Nations. We have to submit our recommendations to the Ministers tomorrow and I wanted to recommend you but I wanted to make sure that it was okay with you before I did."

Athena rubbed her eyes listening to him "Harry has mentioned this committee and while I am flattered that you want to recommend me to the Ministers I have to politely decline. I have a lot going on right now and while I know this wouldn't take up a lot of my time it would bring my family into the spot light again and I am not ready to put them in that position again and I have other things I need to focus my attention on. Once again I have to decline the recommendation though I am honored that you want me to be on the committee. I'm sure there are plenty of other candidates you could recommend that would be as great as I would be if not better. I'm going to go back to sleep now Sam have a good night." She hung up the phone walking back into her bedroom shutting the door behind her as she padded her way over to the bed. She set her phone down on the nightstand before crawling under the covers and back into Harry's arms.

Harry cracked open an eye looking at Athena as he wrapped her back into his protective hold "who was that at?" he glanced over at his alarm clock making out the time "3 am on a Sunday morning?"

Athena lightly kissed him before looking into his emerald eyes "that was Sam. He informed me that they are making the recommendations to the group of ministers tomorrow and wanted to recommend me for the committee. I declined his recommendation of course as I have plenty of other things to handle without adding this to my plate. I know you had told me about this and while I am flattered and honored I don't think know is a good time for me to be adding more to my plate. I got my grades back from the spring semester which were all perfect grades and now I am going to take some summer classes I want to focus on classes, my practice, and my relationship with my handsome boyfriend."

Harry kissed her forehead "I am glad that you declined the recommendation and yes we are presenting our recommendations tomorrow. While it would be great to have you on the committee both you and Hermione have declined due to the items that you have on your plates currently. It is a smart decision to not add anything else when you have enough going on. Maybe in the future you two can be on the committee but I think to keep you two from being stressed out more than normal it is better that you aren't on the committee. I guess with the time difference and the deadline he wanted to talk to you as soon as possible I just wish he wouldn't have done it at 3 am. Let us go back to sleep since I did promise to let you decide what we would do for our eight month anniversary today." He closed his eyes allowing himself to drift off to sleep with Athena.

Six hours later the two woke up as their alarms went off bringing them out of the peaceful dreams to reality. Harry glanced at Athena as they sat up rubbing the sleep from their eyes "are you ready for the day or are you wanting to sleep some more since your sleep was interrupted this morning?"

Athena looked at Harry once she had lowered her fists from her face "I'm fine with getting up now and starting the day. I think I will feel lazy if I allow myself to sleep any longer." She got up heading into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Harry slid his feet to the floor shuffling to the bathroom after her beginning to brush his teeth and go through his morning ritual. Athena worked on going through her morning ritual running a hair brush through her hair making faces as the brush caught some of the tangles. They eventually finished getting ready for the day heading down the stairs to the kitchen. Harry took a seat at the table opening the newspaper to read. Athena stood in front of the fridge looking at the food inside trying to determine what to make for breakfast. She grabbed the ingredients for spinach omelets heading over the stove grabbing a pan and turning up the temp on the burner. She worked on mixing the ingredients together as she waited for the cook top to warm up to the proper temp before placing the mixed ingredients into the pan cooking. Harry watched her over the top of his newspaper smiling as she danced along to the music playing over their sound system turning his attention back to the newspaper thinking about the call Athena had received earlier. He was glad that she had declined the recommendation and that he had already made his recommendation for one of the aurors on his staff to Kingsley on Friday so that he did not have to stress over it. He set the newspaper down when Athena set the plate with a spinach omelet and a glass of orange juice in front of him.

Athena took the seat across from him picking up her fork and beginning to cut the omelet into small pieces "so do you have someone in mind to recommend for the committee?"

Harry nodded " I made my recommendation to Kingsley on Friday to pass on to the minister committee. I have a few aurors on my staff that I think would be good fits for this. I thought at Hermione at first but then I realized she has enough on her plate anyways that I would find an alternate choice and so I did. I made sure he was willing to do it before I even went to Kingsley as I did not want to blindside him and also wanted to make sure this is something he would be interested in."

Athena nodded "that's good. Hermione would most likely have been my first choice as well but I do think it was good that you found some alternatives. I doubt Sam thought I would say no so I'm not sure who he is going to ask or how he is going to pick someone. I hope he makes a good choice since it will reflect back on him." She began to eat her omelet thinking about the possibilities of choices Sam had.

Harry reached over taking her free hand rubbing his thumb over the top of it to get her attention "don't think about it darling. I can see your mind turning about his choices. He will make a fine choice I'm sure. Why don't you focus on eating breakfast and deciding what you want to do for our eight month anniversary today."

Athena blinked nodding for an okay "I did make you agree to let me plan our date. Alright I promise I will temporarily move my train of thought away from the recommendations for the committee." She thought about what she wanted to do that day and what fun things they could do for the afternoon and evening. She grinned at Harry "what do you think about a visit to the fair?"

Harry blinked at her "a fair huh? Now where would we find the fair?"

Athena smiled "I saw a sign for it Friday when I was driving home from the University. It is a mainly muggle event but there are rides, prize booths, and lots of different foods. It is a really fun thing that I used to have my parents take me too all the time when I was little. Please Harry can we go?" She made a pleading face hoping that he would take her to the fair since it had been a while since she had gone.

Harry leaned across the table and kissed her gently "alright we will go to the fair. I think I had heard of Dudley going to one but I had never gone to one so this will be a first. It does sound like fun and the fact that you want to go as badly as you do makes me intrigued to experience this. Do we want to spend the afternoon and evening there? Also what does one wear to the fair? Obviously it will be muggle clothing as it is a muggle event but what form of muggle clothing?"

Athena smiled resuming eating her omelet " I think we should spend this afternoon and evening there but it is understandable if we leave early. I think we should at least go there this afternoon and see what happens as the day goes on. As for what you wear a t-shirt and jeans and maybe a jacket for when it gets cold. I usually wear a t-shirt with a long sleeve shirt over it and jeans and definitely sneakers. So casual muggle attire is what is most common. We will probably see a lot of kids there and with the food it is likely to get messy so don't wear your favorite t-shirt and jeans."

Harry nodded for an okay turning his attention to the newspaper in front of him as he ate the omelet she had prepared. He continued to eat until both had finished getting up taking both plates and glasses to the dishwasher loading them up along with the silverware. He walked over to Athena as she stood up scooping her up and placing her on the counter top grinning "you are so beautiful." He leaned in keeping her against the wall placing a gentle kiss on her lips.

Athena wrapped her arms around his neck nipping at his lower lip deepening the kiss content with the spot she was in and to spend the time kissing him. She lifted a hand to run it through his hair placing a hand on the back of his head to bring him closer. She kept him close continuing the kiss getting lost in the moment.

A few minutes later Harry pulled away lightly running his thumb over her lips "I'm glad you are in my life. I don't know how I would have gotten through these last few months if it hadn't been for your support. I know I have Ron and Hermione to fall back on as well but I feel like you have really been my rock and kept me strong and supported me when I needed it the most. I've tried to be there for you as well and be your support system to the best of my ability but I could never ever repay you for what you have done for me."

Athena looked at him tucking a piece of hair behind her ear "I don't do it with the intention of having you repay me Harry. I want to be by your side and be whatever you need me to be whether it is your friend, your support system, or your girlfriend. I do these things because I love you and I want to be there for you when you succeed but also when you need comfort. I like doing things to help you. If I expected you to return the favor for me then I wouldn't be still with you and I wouldn't be the girl you love. I wouldn't like that person if that was person I had become." She lightly kissed his nose "your support and comfort has been more than enough when I needed it."

Harry smiled at her scooping her up and placing her on the floor "I guess we could get ready for the fair and leave earlier if you want. Otherwise I have some things I can work on in my office if you aren't ready."

Athena "I think it would be best to wait a little bit and let the breakfast we ate settle. Why don't you go to your office and work on your tasks and I will go finish reading the book my mother sent after Mother's Day. After that it should be about time to get ready for the fair. I doubt it will take us that long to get ready since it is pretty casual and by then we shouldn't have to worry about rides making us feel nauseous." She kissed his cheek before heading to the library prepared to get lost in her book.

Harry nodded heading to his office. He took a seat in his chair pulling the files out of his bag setting them in a stack on his desk grabbing the top one and opening it. He was reviewing candidates just in case his first choice was not approved by Kingsley. Athena curled up in a chair in the library taking her book from the side table opening it and beginning to read quickly getting lost in her book.

A couple of hours later Harry sat on the bed watching as Athena tried to decide on an outfit. He was dressed in an old black t-shirt with a picture of Darth Vader from Star Wars on it, a pair of jeans with some small holes, and a pair of worn out checked sneakers. Athena browsed through her many outfits trying to decide on something that didn't look too dressy but also didn't look super faded. She finally grabbed a few items of clothing shutting the door long enough to dress. She walked out of the closet dressed in a old blue t-shirt with Spock from Star Trek on the front of it, some slightly faded and ripped jeans, and a pair of silver sneakers pulling on a long sleeve checkered shirt looking up at Harry "are we ready to go?"

Harry nodded standing up from the bed he snagged his wallet and keys from the dressed sliding both into his back pocket before taking her hand and heading out of the room and down the stairs towards the garage. He paused at the garage door entrance giving Athena time to grab her purse and keys before walking into the garage and opening the door to his vehicle. He waited until Athena was safely tucked inside the car before shutting the door and heading over to his side.

Athena bucked her seat belt as Harry walked over taking a moment once she was finished to check the weather on her phone. She shivered slightly glad she had advised they wear the outfits they did noticing the temperature was a little chilly for a normal spring almost summer day. She looked up at Harry as they pulled out of the garage and started the drive down to the fair glad that he had let her plan the date today excited. She turned her attention back to the road bouncing her leg the closer they got to the fair.

Harry looked at the various rides in front of him as he pulled into the parking lot of the fair. He parked the car turning it off and removing his seat belt before getting out of the car. He walked over to Athena's side opening the door and holding out a hand to her "we have arrived my love. Are you ready to show me all the things you love about the fair?"

Athena took his head getting out of the vehicle and heading to the entrance "this is going to be so much fun." She was more relaxed then normal due to her excitement and the fact that she hadn't been to the fair in a while. She pulled her wallet out of her purse purchasing two unlimited ride wrist bands. She held one out waiting for Harry to offer his arm before she wrapped the wrist band around it. She held out her arm once she finished letting Harry put on her wrist band before she grabbed his hand racing off to the tallest roller coaster she could find. She stopped long enough for them to catch their breath when they reached the end of the line "roller coasters are my favorite part of the fair."

Harry looked at her then looked at the roller coaster in front of him noticing it wasn't as tall or twist and turn filled as the roller coaster he had seen at some of the theme parks "well this one looks tame compared to the roller coasters I have seen in theme parks but it does look fun. I can see why this is your favorite part of the fair. The rest looks interesting but not as fun as the roller coaster." They moved forward in line getting closer to the ride smiling.

Athena walked onto the platform with Harry moving into the ride buckling herself into the ride watching as Harry did the same. She grinned as the ride took off raising her arms as they started to climb the incline. She cheered as they reached the top of the roller coaster then kept her arms up as they raced down the the tracks towards the bottom. She pouted slightly when the ride was over before unbuckling herself and getting off the ride "shall we go walk around and explore the games before we go on another ride?"

Harry got up walking off the ride taking Athena's hand "that sounds like a good idea. Let's see what games they have to offer and maybe even find something to eat." He walked away from the roller coaster with her heading towards one of the numerous games.

Athena headed to one of the shooting games getting out a few pounds handing them over to the attendant before taking a seat in front of one of the water guns. She waited for the bell glancing at Harry nodding at the seat next to her "take a seat and join me. Let's see which one of us will win so that we can get a prize." She looked back at the game as the bell rang starting to shoot at the target not surprised when Harry quickly overtook her progress ending up winning by a small percentage.

Harry blinked as the attendant told him that he had won and asked him what prize he wanted. He looked at Athena "what prize do you want? It looks like we have numerous stuffed animals or a water guns."

Athena looked at the various animals spotting a stuffed animal that she wanted "I want that one in the back. The stuffed owl please." She looked at Harry smiling "I can't believe they have an owl as one of the choices. "

Harry looked at the attendant "we will take the stuffed owl." He waited as it was handed to him before presenting it to Athena "a lovely prize for my lovely girlfriend. What shall we do next?"

Athena hugged the owl to her chest smiling before holding it in one arm and holding Harry's hand with her other hand. She looked at the other booths trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. She looked at the ring toss debating between it and the Ferris wheel before turning her attention to Harry "let's go to the ring toss and then after that we should ride the Ferris wheel." She led him over to the nearby ring toss booth looking at the prizes and what it took to win each level of the prizes. She opened her wallet pulling out some coins handing them to the attendant before receiving her six rings. She tossed one grinning as it landed perfectly around the bottle. She tossed the next one making a face as it landed on the bottle before tipping off the side. The next three rings landed cleanly around the bottles while the last one missed the bottle hitting the wall. She grinned realizing she had gotten to the second level of prizes looking at Harry "what you would like for a prize? You can either have two things from the first level or one thing from the second level. It is only fair since I won this game that you get the prize for it."

Harry had watched with amazement at her skill at the ring toss having heard that it is normally impossible to get any of the rings to land properly. He blinked focusing on what she was saying after realizing she was asking him a question. He looked up at the prizes then looked at the attendant "I will take the water gun." He looked at the decent size water gun that was handed to him holding it as he looked at Athena "to the Ferris wheel?"

Athena nodded holding his hand as they walked to the Ferris wheel "so how are you enjoying the fair so far?"

Harry walked keeping his fingers interlaced with hers "I'm enjoying it so far. I'm a bit surprised you won the ring toss since I have heard it is normally impossible to win it. It looks like there is a lot of fun things to do and a few rides. It looks like they are having a pageant today and some animal races and shows. So we should check those out after we ride the Ferris wheel."

Athena nodded "that is a good idea." She held his hand walking up to the small line for the Ferris wheel. She looked around at the other items he had mentioned not noticing them before amazed at what she saw. She blinked as a bell rang watching the monkeys riding dogs raced around the little track eyes widening at the sight of the jackets the monkeys wore. She could hardly believe they were wearing what looked like little jockey jackets with the flashy patterns in gold and silver. The monkey wearing the gold won by a nose running around the track. She turned her attention back to the line moving forward keeping those in line behind them from getting aggravated. They continued to get closer to the platform walking a few steps at a time finally reaching the cubby area. Athena placed the stuffed owl and Harry's water gun into the cubby before placing a hand on the railing and stepping up the first step towards the platform.

Harry led her to the bench of the Ferris wheel taking a seat as they closed the door. He looked at Athena brushing a piece of hair from her face and running a thumb over her cheek "you look beautiful and full of joy. I like seeing you like this all relaxed and full of life." He kissed her forehead wrapping an arm around her shoulders pulling her close as the ride slowly began to move.

Athena leaned against his arm setting her head on his shoulder "it is nice to just relax. I mean we had the few weeks between my finals and the start of summer where we got to relax but it wasn't as relaxing as this is. This was a good idea for a date. It isn't an expensive date and it is something that we can do a lot of things and have fun." She leaned up slightly to kiss his cheek before sitting back down and enjoying the view of the landscape in front of them.

Harry looked at her as they reached the top of the Ferris wheel tilting her chin up planting a sweet kiss on her lips "Happy eight month anniversary my darling."

Athena returned the kiss with a gentle kiss "Happy eight month anniversary Harry. May we continue to be happy and in love for the foreseeable future." She nuzzled his neck smiling.

The Ferris wheel began its slow descent back down reaching the ground with Harry and Athena locked in a heated lip lock. Harry pulled away at the sound of someone clearing their throat. He let Athena bury her face in his shoulder for a few moments before the two got off the Ferris Wheel.

Athena looked at Harry as they walked away from the Ferris wheel having made sure to grab the stuffed owl and water gun "shall we go watch the beauty pageant or would you like to go ride another ride?"

Harry looked at her "the beauty pageant sounds like a good idea. I think we should probably get something to eat for lunch before we go over to the pageant." He led her to one of the food booths he spotted noticing the corn dogs, cotton candy, and funnel cakes as his stomach began to growl.

Athena looked at the food choices debating between something sugary or something that would actually fill her up for a while "I think a corn dog would be good right now. Funnel cakes and cotton candy are good but since they are mostly sugar it won't be long before we are hungry again."

Harry pulled his wallet out of his pocket getting them both a corn dog and a cup of tea paying for the items before heading over to the nearest table with the cups of tea as Athena grabbed both of the corn dogs. She had picked out the table to set their stuff down on while he had been ordering food for them based on her recommendations.

Athena took a small bite of her corn dog savoring the taste "I enjoy nice restaurants an all but nothing can beat a simple corn dog from the fair most days."

Harry nodded eating his corn dog "it is pretty good compared to some I have had. Though it doesn't always compare to nice restaurants some days a good ole corn dog hits the spot." He took a sip of his tea trying not to make a face as the sour taste washed over.

Athena watched his face not surprised that he wasn't fond of the tea. She had gotten up during the middle of the meal to get a glass of water not at all happy with the taste of her tea. She sipped her water in between bites of her corn dog keeping an eye on the beauty pageant having an idea of who was going to win. "I think the girl in the center is most likely to win the crown. She has beauty, she had grace, and most of all she has charisma which is key to winning the judge over. The tea is not up to the best quality so I went and got water which is probably the best idea for a drink for you if you are not satisfied with the taste."

Harry looked at the beauty pageant watching the girl Athena spoke of nodding "she does seem to be the favorite to win right now. Everyone seems to be unable to keep their eyes of her and she seems to have a talent that is impressing the crowd and judges. I think I will get a glass of water since this tea tastes horrid." He got up heading over to the food stand getting himself a glass of water before he returned to his seat across from Athena. He watched as the girls lined up and the one he and Athena had been watching was crowned the winner "we were right about her winning the pageant." He waited until they had finished eating before grabbing their glasses and plates throwing them away before taking a glance around the fair. The crowd had thinned as a few hours had passed due to them playing the games and riding two of the rides. He looked back at Athena "so shall we ride another ride or play another game? Or are you ready to head back home for a little while and then go out to eat elsewhere?"

Athena took a quick look around the fair having gotten tired of the fair after the activities they had participated in and watched "I am more than fine with going home for a little while and then going out to eat elsewhere. As much as the other rides look appealing I am sure they would make us both nauseous and possible lead to the contents of our stomachs leaving our bodies in less than pleasant manners. The other games here are not nearly as fun as the two that we have played. As for the little shows and activities they aren't nearly as fun as the monkey races and the beauty pageant. Let's go home. I am glad that you got to see the fair and hope you did enjoy the time we spent here." She headed for the exit of the fairgrounds ready for a short nap before dinner.

Harry wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked out of the park "I had a good time. The fair was more than I expected from what I had heard but it was definitely interesting. It was somewhat fun while we were here but I do wish they had more roller coasters and similar rides then they did. I guess we would need to go to a theme park to experience more fun rides and games but that is okay. It was a new experience and I enjoyed it." He opened the door to his vehicle waiting for Athena to get in safely before shutting the door and heading over to his side and getting in. He drove the short distance home thinking that maybe the two should take a nap to rest up and let their food settle before they went out to dinner. He walked into the house dropping his keys on the hook by the garage door "what do you think about a nap before we head out next? I think it wouldn't hurt to rest up and let our food settle before we get ready to go out to dinner. I know originally you had planned for us to have dinner at the fair but clearly we didn't stay all the way to dinner so we can go to restaurant I have reservations at that I haven't canceled."

Athena nodded feeling her eyes get heavy "a nap sounds like a good idea. I figured since we left the fair earlier than expected that we would go to where you have reservations. The thought of food right now is not the most appealing since we did just eat a bit ago. Let's go take a short nap and then get ready for dinner." She headed up the stairs towards the room walking into the closet. She took off her sneakers placing them back on the shoe rack before changing from a pair of jeans to a pair of comfy sleep shorts and hung the long-sleeve shirt on the hanger. She walked out of the closet to her side of the bed crawling under the covers and closing her eyes.

Harry took off his shoes setting them on his shoe rack before taking off his jeans and long-sleeve shirt tossing them into his hamper. He walked over to the bed crawling under the covers and cuddling close to Athena as he closed his eyes.

Two hours later it was now 5 pm as the two opened their eyes. Athena sat up glancing at the time before setting her feet on the ground. She forced herself off the bed stretching as she walked to the closet to get ready for dinner. She looked through her various outfits before selecting a rose gold v-neck sequin dress. She grabbed her gold lace peep toe heels to join the dress before heading into the bathroom. She made quick work of getting into the dress and shoes pairing it with the appropriate undergarments before opening her make up box. She applied a light layer of mascara to her eyes following up with a neutral eye shadow and a ruby red shade of lipstick. She pulled her hair up into a french braid letting it hang down her back before she walked out. Harry was finishing up sliding into his jacket already having put on his gold dress shirt, black slacks, and a pair of black dress shoes. He had tamed his hair slightly while she was in the bedroom turning his attention to Athena with a smile "you look absolutely gorgeous my darling." He buttoned up his jacket before offering his arm to Athena "shall we go darling?"

Athena nodded taking his arm "we shall sweetheart. You look dashing my love. I am a very lucky girl to have you escorting me to dinner and to be by your side. You are an amazing person and I don't know what I would do without you. It doubt it would matter to me if you were famous or not I love the person not the story." She kissed him before they headed back out to the garage both making sure they had their wallets and keys as they walked into the garage. She slipped into the passenger side of Harry's vehicle smiling as he shut the door for her then walked over to his side. She looked at the scenery as they headed from Oxfordshire to London heading to the Italian restaurant Harry had made reservations at. She smiled to herself thinking about how their relationship had changed over the past two months and the important things that had happened. She looked at the restaurant as they pulled in remembering the last time they had been there had been with Ron and Hermione.

The two headed into the restaurant stopping at the podium. Harry looked at the server "reservations for two under Potter." He led Athena after the server as they were brought to a more private corner of the restaurant. He pulled out Athena's chair after releasing her arm allowing her to sit before taking a seat across from her. He took her hand once the menus were presented rubbing his thumb over the top of it as he looked over the various choices. Once he had decided on the penne pasta with mozzarella cheese, cherry tomatoes, and rocket leaves in cream sauce he looked at Athena "have you decided what you would like darling or do you need more time to decide?"

Athena looked up at him slightly distracted by his thumb running over the top of her hand "hmm. Oh yes I have decided what I would like to eat if you are ready to order." She watched as his discreetly signaled for the server. She looked at the server "I will have the tagliatelle with grilled chicken, broccoli, and cream curry sauce with a grape and vanilla cooler please." She closed the menu handing it to the server.

Harry looked at the server "I will have the penne pasta with mozzarella cheese, cherry tomatoes, and rocket leaves in cream sauce with a cup of Earl Grey tea please. No dessert at the moment." He closed his menu handing it to the server watching as she disappeared taking their order with her. He looked back at Athena "so is this going to be a better dinner than the fair or are we thinking the fair would have been a better choice for dinner?"

Athena smiled "I am thinking this is definitely a better place for dinner. The fair was fun and the food was decent but this is a better way to mark the fact that we have been together for eight months. It has been a long eight months with a big fight and making up. I know we have had little spats here and there because of work and stress and disagreements but we have made it through them and are better off because of it. It's fun to remember that we were here for our first date and how much has changed since then." She looked at the server as the drinks were set down taking a small sip surprised at how delicious her drink was "this was a good choice for beverage."

Harry took a sip of his tea "this is a lot better than the tea that we had the fair. We did have our first date here. It feels like that was ages ago when we went to dinner and the movie. We've come a long way since then and now we have over come a lot of obstacles and a lot of sadness and tragedy to get to where we are."

Athena shivered slightly remembering her kidnapping a few months ago unable to believe an event that felt like it was forever ago had only been a few months prior to today. She cleared her head of the memory taking another sip of her drink. She looked up as the food was carefully place in front of her and Harry. She carefully took a bite after blowing on it to cool it off closing her eyes as she enjoyed the taste letting out a small groan of appreciation.

Harry took a bite of his food trying to ignore the affect her groan had on her. He continued to take bites of his food until his plate was clean and his cup of tea was empty. He looked up at Athena noticing she had finished her food as well before turning his attention to the server who had returned to clear their plates. He looked back at Athena "are you wanting dessert my love?"

Athena shook her head no "I think the pasta was quite filling. I am afraid I am not up for dessert. You can order something if you are still hungry."

Harry looked at the server "we will not be having dessert if you could bring the check please." He looked back at Athena groaning quietly as his phone began to ring "I'm sorry about this. If you'll excuse me for a moment." He got up heading away from their table to another secluded spot answering his phone. He listened quietly to Sam talk about candidates and convincing Athena to be a part of the committee running a hand through his hair messing it up further. He frowned "I am not going to allow you to force her to accept your recommendation for the committee. She doesn't want to be apart of it. She has enough on her plate right now and I don't need you trying to add any more. She can only do so much before she cracks under the pressure of it all and you won't be there to pick up the pieces like I will. I will not allow it and I will warn Kingsley and the other ministers of what you are trying to do if you recommend her. I get that she is the perfect candidate but you don't see me trying to force Hermione Weasley to be apart of the committee. One I don't feel like dealing with her and Ron's wrath at being forced. Two I don't want to have to be responsible for Hermione cracking and losing her mind due to her taking on to much. Don't try and force Athena or you will have more than just her to deal with. Goodbye Sam." He hung up the phone heading back to the table taking a seat and placing his card in the folder handing it back to the server a little frustrated.

Athena looked at him taking his hand "what's wrong Harry?" She examined him noticing that his hair had been tousled multiple times as the result of him running his hand through his hair and that he had frown lines. She ran her thumb over his hand trying to help him relax.

Harry "Sam called trying to get me to convince you to be apart of the committee. I warned him of the consequences of trying to force you. I'm hoping that he will back off and find someone else." He signed the check before standing up. He offered Athena a hand waiting until she took it and stood up before he wrapped his arm around her waist placing a gentle kiss on the side of her head "I don't know about you but I am ready to go home and enjoy the rest of the evening." He walked out with her to the vehicle helping her in before going over to his side getting in the driver's seat. He drove them back to the house letting himself relax the closer they got to the house. He parked the vehicle getting out and opening the door for Athena. He waited until the door was shut before gently pinning her against the door of his vehicle. He leaned down gently brushing his lips against hers before moving his lips down to her neck lightly nipping and sucking at her neck.

Athena grabbed at his hair keeping his lips against her neck lightly groaning as he found the sensitive spot on her neck. She wrapped her other arm around his neck as her legs turned to jello from the sensations. Harry wrapped his arm around her waist lifting her up until her legs wound around his waist. He kept an arm tucked around her as he headed into the house carrying her up the stairs as he peppered kisses down her neck smiling as she let out a noise of appreciation. He opened the door to their bedroom carefully laying her down on the bed in front of him undoing the straps on her heels removing them from her feet. He removed his shoes slipping out of his slacks. He started to unbutton his shirt watching as she stood up lowering the straps of her dress until it fell to the floor in a pile.

An hour later the two lay curled up in bed kissing occasionally as they caught their breath. Athena cuddled close to him "happy eight month anniversary Harry. I love you so much." She kissed his nose before closing her eyes drifting off to sleep.

Harry pulled her closer in his arms "happy eight month anniversary Athena. I love you always." He closed his eyes drifting off to a peaceful sleep filled with dreams of a pair of dark hair twins running towards him and Athena.

Song Choice: Sia- Alive